Compare Bad Vibrations, however this trope is only in effect if a character explicitly mistakes the vibrations for an earthquake. It can sometimes manifest as a case of It's Probably Nothing, however characters will often still panic in response to it, just not quite enough.

Note that this trope does NOT apply if the tremors really are caused by an earthquake. The exception would be the Inversion: A character mistakes the tremors as having an outside cause, but it's actually a normal earthquake.

Examples

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[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

In the Inuyasha episode "Battle Against the Dried-Up Demons at the Cultural Festival", Kagome wonders if the ground shaking is an earthquake, but it's actually a demon catfish flopping around on top of the school.

During the Namek Saga of Dragonball Z, Bulma tries to rationalize the ruckus being created by Vegeta and Frieza as "only an earthquake."

It is announced that the preliminary round of the Dark Tournament in YuYu Hakusho will take place on the ferry to the island. When the ship's deck opens to reveal the fighting ring:

Kuwabara: "Aaaah! Earthquake!" Hiei: "Fool, there can't be earthquakes on the water!"

Steven: "Is it an earthquake?" Jasmine: "Not even a four-pointer, go back to sleep."

Inverted in LA Story's cafe scene, which has the ground begin to shake about halfway into the meal. Sara, just in from the UK, worriedly asks what's going on, and the others tell her it's just an earthquake.

In Groundhog Day, the old ladies with the flat tire scream that it's an earthquake, when it's actually Phil jacking up their car.

The movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids has what Ron mistakes for an earthquake actually turn out to be a remote-controlled lawn mower. As the kids are a quarter of an inch tall, this means things have gone From Bad to Worse.

When the aliens attack in Skyline some of the character assume it's a minor earthquake.

In 300, the approach of the Persian army makes the earth tremble, and [captain guy] thinks for a moment an earthquake is happening.

"Go Eat Worms!": Todd thinks there are earthquakes near the school, when it is actually a giant worm under the ground.

"The Horror at Camp Jellyjam: The friequent earthquakes are actually King Jellyjam burping underground.

In Septimus Heap: Queste, the loud shaking of the Toll-Man's hut that Jenna first thought was an earthquake turns out to be a pack of Foryx running past the hut.

In the Soviet novel "Plutonia" a man climbs a small hill in order to take samples. Then he shouts down to his friends "A terrible earthquake!" They are confused at first, since they feel nothing... then it turns out that wasn't a hill, but rather a giant turtle.

In the Doctor Who episode "The Angels Take Manhattan", Grayle wonders "Is it an earthquake?", but it's actually the TARDIS breaking through a temporal barrier to land in his foyer.

On Married... with Children Peggy's unseen mother is so fat...(how fat is she?)...She's so fat that the earth quakes when she walks, making others think an earthquake is happening.

Dragnet had one. Friday and Gannon stay in a hotel posing as orange growers to infiltrate a high-stakes gambling game and the room is right next to the elevator shaft. Friday mistakes the rumbling and shaking for an earthquake the first time it happens.

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[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]

Dungeons & Dragons module series "Desert of Desolation". While in the desert the PCs can experience an earthquake as a random encounter. In fact it's caused by the passage of a large number of Sand Worm type creatures called "thunderherders".

Fragments of Fear adventure "The Underground Menace". The inhabitants of Winnemuck, Michigan were terrified by a series of earthquakes. Little did they know that the earth tremors were actually caused by a ghoul priest trying to release a Cthulhu Mythos monster related to the Great Old One Shudde M'ell!

Terror from the Stars adventure "The Temple of the Moon". The earthquakes at the archeological dig site are not natural: they're caused when the bottom of the pool inside the Temple slides back to reveal a long shaft downward.

The Fungi from Yuggoth adventure "Mountains of the Moon". The earthquakes near the NWI facility in Peru are actually caused by the nearby mining activity of the Mi-go.

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[[folder:Web Comics]]

In Girl Genius, when Agatha finally manages to reboot Castle Heterodyne, the invading forces think they're experiencing an earthquake until they discover that it's actually the castle fighting back, seen here.

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[[folder:Western Animation]]

In the first episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003 Splinter is giving the turtles a lecture when their sewer home begin to shake. Michealangelo wonder if it is an earthquake, but Donatello answers that since they are in New York it's possible but not likely. Then the cause become clear when the Mad Scientist Baxter Stockmans mouser robots breaks through the wall and attack Splinter and the turtles.

On The Flintstones, Fred thinks there's an earthquake. Turns out it was Bamm-Bamm inexplicably destroying an addition to Fred's house.

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